You’ve probably heard the saying “first impressions last.” Now, while it may not always be true, making a great first impression is crucial when it comes to making a sale—and great branding is the way to do it. Everything about your brand should clearly embody who you are, what you stand for and who you want to connect to. Are you a fun brand for kids? Are you a serious name for professionals? Are you a high-end brand for the super rich or a more down-to-earth one for the masses? A customer should be able to immediately figure it out. Otherwise, you run the risk of not connecting with anyone and ultimately failing to make a sale.
But that’s not all there is to great branding. Here are four more reasons to make sure you get it right:
It keeps everyone on the same page
You, your partners, your marketing team, your investors and even any third party suppliers you hire would all have a single point of reference when it comes to things that are related to the brand. All creative materials would share the same voice, look and feel. Every marketing message would be in line with what the brand stands for. Long story short, everything everyone does would be driven by a single purpose.
It makes your brand more recognizable
The marketing landscape of today is much larger than what we had back when all we had as TV, radio and print. We now have websites, social media, apps, video sharing services, content aggregators, search engines, digital billboards and posters and all sorts of events and on-ground activities. You need to make sure that your consumers are able to recognize you across all the marketing channels you use—and you can only do this when everyone on your team (third party suppliers included) is on the same page when it comes to branding.
It keeps you focused
As we’ve talked about earlier, great branding makes your identity and purpose clear—and this helps keep you from getting sidetracked no matter how big your business gets. Whenever an opportunity presents itself, you can just evaluate it against what your brand stands for and easily decide on whether you should go for it or not. As a general rule, if it adds value to your business and gets you closer to where you want to be as a brand, then it’s a go. Otherwise, it would be better just to pass it up.
It makes consumers want to associate themselves with you
Why do you think there’s an iPhone versus Android debate in the first place? Great branding has allowed both companies to each build an almost fanatical following—and with it comes increased sales and free word-of-mouth marketing.
Is one really better than the other? Well, the short answer is that it’s all a matter of personal preference—but apologists for either brand seem to have made it their mission to convince the rest of the world that their chosen brand is the clear choice. That’s how great both companies are at branding.
Share your favorite brands with us in the comments!
